China hailed a visit by new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday as a "turning point" in relations as they agreed to upgrade ties and denounced North Korea's plans for a nuclear test as unacceptable.
Beijing had refused summits with Mr Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, who stepped down last month, because of his repeated pilgrimages to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine to war dead, seen by critics as glorifying Japan's past militarism.
But Chinese leaders struck a conciliatory tone and Abe expressed "deep remorse" for past Japanese actions as he broke with tradition in making his first trip abroad since taking office on September 26 to China, rather than the US.
"Your visit is serving as a turning point in China-Japan relations and I hope it will also serve as a new starting point for the improvement and development of bilateral ties," China's Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese President Hu Jintao as telling Mr Abe.
Chinese leaders agreed in principle to an invitation from Mr Abe to visit Japan, China's foreign ministry said. State television also quoted Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao as saying China and Japan should keep up mutual visits by state leaders, suspended since 2001.
Mending ties is key to addressing last week's threat by reclusive N. Korea to conduct a nuclear test, an issue high on the agenda during Mr Abe's two-day visit to Beijing, host to stalled six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue.
Mr Abe said the possibility that North Korea would make good on its threat could not be ruled out, adding that if it did so the UN would discuss invoking Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which could lay the groundwork for military force.
"Japan and China shared the view that North Korea's nuclear test is unacceptable. And this is a strong message to North Korea," Mr Abe told reporters.
A joint statement said the two sides "expressed deep concern" over the threatened nuclear test.
In Seoul, a senior Japanese official said: "We can see the fragility of the security situation in East Asia because of North Korea," adding North Korea's return to six-party talks was "an absolute necessity".
Mr Abe flies to South Korea today for talks with President Roh Moo-hyun that are expected to focus on North Korea.
At a meeting with Mr Wen, both sides expressed hope of overcoming animosity linked to Koizumi's regular war shrine visits, which angered China and hampered progress on territorial, trade and energy disputes.
China and Japan also agreed to elevate relations to a strategic level and speed up talks on disputed energy resources in the East China Sea, their joint statement said.
Mr Abe said he wished to "build a relationship of trust with Chinese leaders".
"Sixty years of Japan's post-war history is built on our deep remorse for our country inflicting grave damage and suffering and left scars on the people of Asia," Mr Abe told reporters. "I feel certain that my visit to China this time will lead Sino-Japanese ties to a higher level," he said.
Mr Abe's Beijing visit is seen as a chance for a fresh start for the two countries, whose economic interdependence has grown despite the political chill. China replaced the US as Japan's top trade partner in 2004. Japan's trade with China, including Hong Kong, reached $212 billion last year.
"The change of government gives an opportunity for both sides to build a new relationship regardless of what has happened up to now," an aide to Abe told reporters in Beijing.
Mr Abe, at 52 the first Japanese premier born after World War Two, has defended Mr Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni. Mr Abe has also paid his respects there in the past, but again declined yesterday to say whether he would do so as prime minister.